Unsweetened. Light. In our choices at the table, we increasingly focus on foods and drinks that allow us to limit the calorie intake and the sugar component of the diet. But perhaps, first of all, we should get used to consuming fewer sweet foods in general, without taking refuge too frequently in additives that allow us to satisfy the taste without offering almost calories. Perhaps doing so would also help cardiovascular protection.
Too much sugar in the diet, how to reduce consumption without losing taste
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To make him think, albeit without risking any correlation and therefore a precise causal relationship, is a research that appeared on the British Medical Journal (first name Charlotte Debras of the University of Paris) which suggests a potential association between increased consumption of artificial sweeteners and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
Follow over 100,000 people
The study brought together several researchers under the auspices of INSERM (National Institute for Health and Medical Research) and considered more than 103,000 people, in four cases out of five women, with an average age of 42 years. The data was taken from the NutriNet-Santé study, launched in France in 2009 to investigate the relationships between nutrition and health.
In the analysis, artificial sweeteners from all food sources were considered, therefore not only drinks but also table sweeteners and more, as well as by type of substance used. More than one in three people (37% of the total) consumed these compounds regularly, with average intakes ranging from 7.46 milligrams per day (extremely low consumers) up to nearly 80 milligrams per day.
The role of lifestyle
It must be said that in general terms, those who consumed a lot of sweeteners were more often overweight, smoked more, followed a weight loss diet more and were less active on the physical front. Furthermore, this population tended to consume more sodium, processed meats and other food principles not exactly in line with the dictates of cardiovascular prevention.
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The risks to the heart and brain
Eliminating as much as possible all these confounding factors, the researchers observed what happened in nine years of monitoring the subjects studied. In this period, 1502 cardiovascular events were observed, such as heart attack, anginal crises, the need for angioplasty, transient cerebral ischemic attacks or Tia and stroke.
Total intake of artificial sweeteners was associated with an increased risk of such events. By calculating the events per 100,000 person-years, or the combined measure of the number of subjects and the time during which the events under study can occur, we reached 346 in those who consumed more sweeteners than 314, about 10% in less, in those who did not consume them.
The association between sweeteners and cerebral circulatory problems appears even closer: 195 and 150 per 100,000 years / person respectively in those who consumed a lot of sweeteners compared to those who did not.
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We don’t focus too much on dessert
Even if the same authors of the study point out the possibility that there are still confounding factors able to influence the results, the warning is clear: if possible, it is better to limit our need for sweet, both through sugar and with sweeteners. “Those who take sweeteners could in themselves make this choice precisely to limit the effect of cardiovascular risk factors, such as overweight or possible diabetes, but in any case you have to get used to less sweet tastes – he comments Andrea Ghiselli, president of the Italian Society of Food Science (SISA). Today, for example, we know that these substances can have an action on the intestinal microbiota, an important factor in determining inflammatory processes also affecting the vessels “.
The psychological factor
But it is above all on the psychological side that the habit of replacing sugar can have an impact, because it can make consumers feel more “free” from a nutritional point of view. “Today people may not eat two sugar cookies but consume four without sugar: instead, you have to convince yourself to consume them less sweet foods – concludes the expert. In this regard, even on the front of institutions such as the WHO, care must be taken not to encourage the replacement of sugars with sweeteners in food. A change of habits in the population is important “.
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